Wedding Keepsake
by musicalxchaos
Summary: A look into Lorelai's thoughts during the reception after Richard and Emily's vow renewal ceremony. One-shot for now.


**A/N**: I don't own anything. ASP is a genius, I just like to fiddle around occasionally. I borrowed some of her dialogue for this fic. hides I got bored, and Lauren Graham's expressions in this episode screamedddd to be written into a story, but hey, I needed the fight to help. So here it is. For now, its a one-shot, I may keep going since I'm spoiled and have a vague idea whats coming over the nextfew episodes.

* * *

Lorelai's head was already spinning as she hurried toward the sound of Luke's voice. She could hear the tension and anger in his words and winced when Christopher's drunken reply echoed through the room.

Tonight had been going so well before Chris had shown up. The night had gone downhill from there. As soon as she saw him at the reception, Lorelai knew she had to tell Luke about the night she spent with Chris after his father died. She wished now she had told him in the first place. What had she been thinking, keeping it from him? She had only wanted to protect his feelings, and instead she had been forced to drop the bomb on him while he was somewhere he didn't even want to be. Doing something, yet again, because she wanted him to. Could she have been any more inconsiderate? She felt awful seeing his face fall as she told him, watching him tense as Christopher approached for the rest of the evening. Here she was with this man who had always been there for her, had always cared for her, and was always honest with her, and who she was pretty sure she was falling more in love with every day, and she had screwed up - badly. _Nice going, Gilmore_, she had silently reprimanded herself as she tried to ease the awkwardness between them for the remainder of the evening.

From the moment Christopher sat down at their table, Lorelai knew she had to separate him and Luke. Chris was totally trashed, spouting on and on about the past, the inn, and who knows what. She could see Luke was silently fuming, and trouble was on the horizon. _God, I totally set myself up for this. If only I had just been honest!_ Lorelai thought. She was grateful to Marilyn for the interruption and immediately went after Rory, and was also extremely glad Luke followed her- Chris and Luke alone would only lead to disaster.

Little did she know she'd find Rory in the middle of a make out session with Logan, the guy from the limo that she'd taken home from the male Yale party her parents had so graciously thrown for Rory a few months earlier. Lorelai snapped. She didn't need another issue to deal with right now, Luke "wanted to talk", which she knew couldn't be good, and Chris was on her last nerve. Didn't Rory realize what a stupid place this was to relieve her sexual frustration?

And then Chris barged in, barely able to form a sentence. _NOW he's going to play dad?_ Lorelai thought angrily as she shoved him from the room. And of course Luke jumped in there as well, she would have expected that (and she loved that he cared so much for her daughter), especially with Christopher being around. But right here, right now, Lorelai wanted nothing more than to get Rory out and deal with the two men on her own so they could be separated as quickly as possible. She let Rory off easy, gave Logan the look from hell, and now here she was in the middle of a spat between the father of her daughter and the most important man in her life.

As the two men exchange jabs about being in Rory's life, Lorelai tried to interject but most of her attempts were fruitless. Christopher was so drunk that he was beyond reason.

"Rory is my daughter and Lorelai's daughter and that's it"

"Well I'm with Lorelai!" Luke shot back. Lorelai had to smile, at least Luke was still fighting for their relationship, despite the events earlier in the evening.

"For now!" Lorelai did a double take. Was Chris for real?

"What does that mean, for now, what is that a threat?"

"Lorelai and I belong together, everyone knows it! I know it, Emily knows it." Lorelai was almost certain her world stopped turning for a split second. Her breath caught, her heart slowed, time felt like it stopped.

"What?" Luke looked to her, but she couldn't come up with a response. Could her mother have done this? Her mind was racing.

"Look, I blew it, ok? I know that I blew it. You waited, and I didn't come through, and now you're with him, but its not too late." Chris looked at Lorelai, his eyes darting all over. Lorelai couldn't believe this was actually happening.

"Chris, don't" she replied softly, pleading with him to stop before he ruined everything.

"Its not too late, I know its not too late, Emily told me it wasn't too late. I mean, that's why I'm here ok? I know you're with him but its for now, its not forever, its just for now, I know that." Lorelai was in shock as she realized exactly what was going on, and looked over at Luke, and saw the devastation on his face. She put aside her anger for a minute; she needed Luke to know she had nothing to do with this. She needed him to know they were ok, hell, they were more than ok, they were great. She could NOT lose him.

"Luke, I don't know what he's talking about" she said sincerely.

"I gotta get out of here" Luke said and walked out.

Lorelai went after him, snapping at Chris as she went. She needed to catch up with Luke; they couldn't end their conversation like this. Chris was so damn persistent, babbling on and on about wanting to get her alone to talk. Couldn't he take a hint? Lorelai was fuming as the reality of the situation hit her. Her mother was behind all of this. Luke was gone, quite possibly under the impression that she didn't want to be with him anymore, and it was all Emily's fault. Her mother was so stuck on the fact that he wasn't from their world, that he owned a diner and wore flannel, that she didn't bother to realize that he made her happy- happier than anyone she'd ever been with. God forbid Emily be happy for Lorelai. This was the last straw. She had meddled too deeply this time. As Marilyn dragged Lorelai over to take the wedding party picture, she fought back tears, knowing Luke was getting farther away from the reception every second she was there, and the sight of her mother only made her angrier.

As the photographer took the picture, Lorelai leaned in to her mother's ear. "You and me? We're done."

Let her have that as a keepsake of her special night.


End file.
